The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542 / by George Parker Winship.

  • Winship, George Parker, 1871-1952.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542 / by George Parker Winship. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    wilderness forced him to turn back. At Ohiainetla he encountered Coronado’s force. He joined the army, sending his lieutenant, Saldivar, with three other horsemen, to carry his report to the viceroy. This was delivered to Mendoza on March 20, and is embodied in the letter to the King, dated April 17, 1540. Coronado did not allow Diaz to announce the results of his reconnois- sauce to the soldiers, but the rumor quickly spread that the visions in- spired by Friar Marcos had not been substantiated. Fortunately, the friar was himself in the camp. Although he was now the father pro- vincial of the Franciscan order in New Spain, he had determined to ac- company the expedition, in order to carry the gospel to the savages whose salvation had been made possible by his heroic journey of the preceding spring. The mutterings of suspicion and discontent among the men grew rapidly louder. Friar Marcos felt obliged to exhort them in a special sermon to keep up a good courage, and by his eloquence he succeeded in persuading them that all their labors would soon be Avell repaid. From Chiametla the army resumed its march, procuring provisions from the Indians along the way. Mendoza stated, in 1547, that he took every precaution to prevent any injury or injustice being done to the Indians at the time of Coronado’s departure, and that he stationed oflQcials, especially appointed for this purpose, at convenient points on the road to Culiacan, who were ordered to iirocure the necessary pro- visions for the expedition. There are no means of telling how well this plan was carried into execution. A day or two before Easter, March 28, 1540, the army approached Culiacan. The journey had occupied a little over a mouth, but when Coronado, from his lodging in the Cibola village of Granada, three mouths later, recalled the slow and tedious marches, the continual waiting for the lazy cattle and the heavily loaded baggage trains, and the repeated vexatious delays, we can hardly wonder that it seemed to him to have been a period of fourscore days’journey. The town of San Miguel de Culiacan, in the spring of 1540, was one of the most prosperous in Kew Spain. Nuno de Guzman had founded the settlement some years before, and had placed Melchior Diaz in charge of it. The appointment was a most admii-able one. Diaz was not of gentle birth, but he had established his right to a position of considerable power and resiionsibility by virtue of much natural ability. He was a hard worker and a skillful organizer and leader. He mspired confidence in his companions and followers, and always maintained the best of order and of diligence among those who Avere under his charge. Karely does one meet Avith a man Avhose record for every position and every duty assigned to him shoAVS such uniform and thorough efiiciency. The settlement increased i-apidly in size and in wealth, and Avheu Coio- uado’s force encami)ed in the surrounding fields, the-citizens of the tOAvu insisted on entertaining in their OAvn homes all of the gentlemen Avho